A Brighton woman is due in court today (Saturday 22 June) over a Just Stop Oil orange paint stunt at Stansted airport on Thursday.
Cole Macdonald, of Baker Street, Brighton, is one of two women to have been charged with criminal damage, aggravated trespass and interfering with national infrastructure.
The pair were charged after private jets were sprayed with orange paint in a Just Stop Oil protest at Stansted, Essex Police said.
Macdonald, 22, and Jennifer Kowalski, 28, caused more than £5,000 worth of damage, according to the charges.
Macdonald was due before the bench at Brighton on Thursday 23 May charged with wilful obstruction of a highway in Home Farm Road, Brighton.
She was alleged to locked on with Ash Yoganathan, 27, outside the L3 Harris factory there on Thursday 2 May.
Essex Police said that it detained two people on Thursday after they gained access to a private area of an airfield and were “causing damage to two aircraft”.
The force said that the private jet of pop star Taylor Swift, which Just Stop Oil said had landed at Stansted “mere hours before”, was not at the airport.
The activists entered the airfield and painted two private jets using fire extinguishers filled with orange paint, the environmental group said.
Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow said: “I would like to reassure passengers and the wider public that we are well prepared and resourced to deal with incidents of this nature.
“Almost immediately after we were made aware of this incident, which took place away from the main passenger terminal, we were on the scene.
“We maintain a constant presence at the airport and this presence will be heightened over the summer period.
“We have a good working relationship with Stansted airport to ensure you can go about your travels with minimal impact.
“We are not anti-protest but we will always take action where criminal acts take place.”
Just Stop Oil tweeted: “Jennifer and Cole cut the fence into the private airfield at Stansted where @taylorswift13’s jet is parked, demanding an emergency treaty to end fossil fuels by 2030.”
The accompanying video shows an activist cutting a hole in the airfield’s metal fence using an angle grinder.
One activist, wearing a Just Stop Oil t-shirt, can then be seen spraying the fuselage and windows of two parked white planes with orange paint before both then sit together in front of the aircraft on the tarmac.
Officers were called at around 5am after reports of people gaining access to a private area of an airfield at Stansted airport, police said.
Two people had entered an area “well away from the runway and main passenger terminal” before causing damage to two aircraft.
The airport and flights continued operating as normal on Thursday.
The group’s latest protest came after two Just Stop Oil activists sprayed orange paint on the prehistoric Stonehenge monument on Wednesday.
Kowalski, of Dumbarton, and Macdonald, of Brighton, are due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court today.
Was listening to the old man who is always seen in their filming on LBC. He comes across as a passionate individual, but completely stupid in his approach. The group admitted that the normal public are simply collateral.
No wonder people resent them, and actively turn away from their cause, which done correctly, would be a worthwhile one.
The whole green idea is predicated on the human species surviving. The Earth has seen many mass extinctions, we are only one of them and to be honest with the way the world is going it wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Isn’t this an example of this being done “correctly”? I’m with you that attacking cultural artefacts alienates people and has already become a cliche. This is a target that directly relates to the issue. The world is burning yet people are still hopping around in private jets. How else would you suggest we should protest that the world’s governments are doing so little to address the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced when time is clearly running out?
Wondering if she’s flying somewhere this summer
WHEN WILL THEY START SENDING THESE PEOPLE TO PRISON AS MUMMY AND DADDY WILL PAY THEIR FINES
It’s been a while since we’ve been exposed to your brand of syntax. Long time no see.
How come the leaders of Just Stop Oil are not facing criminal charges themselves?
Encouraging or assisting a crime is itself a crime in English law, by virtue of the Serious Crime Act 2007.
My main concern is not the damage to the private jets BUT the fact that someone managed to get that close to a plane at one of the major airports in the UK. Where was the security?
It is a reasonable question, actually. Set of bolt cutters was all that was needed.
It’s the sort of criminal behaviour that makes one wish there was a Rentamob Anonymous to which these tiresome troublemakers could go in an attempt to kick the habit.